Vincent Price plays Gallico the great, an inventor of stage-magic effects who aspires to become a star in his own right. Just before his first performance, his act is shut down by capricious manager Ormond who wants Gallico's brilliant buzzsaw effect for the act of the Great Rinaldi, an established star. With this defeat, and the humiliation of having already lost his wife Claire to his rival, Gallico goes insane and uses the buzzsaw to decapitate his manager.